Rail anchor



Sept. 29, 1925., 1,555,770

J. R. STEELE I RAIL ANCHOR Filed May 20, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 M ATTORNEY Sept. 29, 1925.

. 1,555,770 J. R STEELE RAIL ANCHOR Filed May 20, 1925 28heets=$het 2 I I INVENTOR Z ,5 7 4 yaw. 514 l J I a I A rm/Mfr 7 l Patented Sept. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES.

' James R. STEELE, or OWEGO, new YORK.

RAIL ANCHOR.

Application filed May 20, 1925. Seria1.$No.81,474.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES R. STEELE,-3, citizen of the United States, and a resident of O'wego, in the county of Tioga and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Rail Anchor, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to rail-anchors, or anticreepers as they are also called, and more particularly to one-piece rail-anchors. The object is to provide a rail-anchor of this class which requires only a short drive transversely of the rail to obtain a grip of exceptional force, and whichwill not back off under vibration. v

i In the accompanying drawings illustrating an embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of the device on a rail in section, and against a portion of a tie, the anchor being in the position in which it is first put on, before any driving;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the anchor partly driven on the rail; I

Fi 8 's a similar view showing the anchorfully driven, or practically so;

" Fig. 4 is an end view of the anchor on the 1 j rail, a portion of which is seen inelevation,

a portion of the tie being in section;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the. rail-anchor off the rail; i a Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-section on the line 7+7 of Fig, 6; and 3 Fig. 8 isaplanjvievvof thefanchor.

J The rail ismarked A and the tie against which the anchor 2 abuts is marked B. The anchor ismade by punching from a plate of ,70.8 0=f carbon steel, that is to say, material in the--tool steel class. The plates are punched at a temperature of about 2000F., and are air cooled by allowing them to cool individually in the air, the result-being a stiff plate-girder yoke. v The punching operation removes the upper interior part of the plate, forming a cut-out to receive the rail base, the yoke thus formed comprising a transverse under-rail portion 3 and integral long and short jaws for hooks 4, 5 at the opposite ends.

jaws lie in the plane of the plate, except that the long jaw 4 has a stiff arm 6 bent therefrom to extend generally lengthwise'of the top of the rail base. 'The punching operation forms a draft angle or bevel 7 on These the edge including theupper side of the under-rail portion and the under sides of the jaws, which draft angle is utilized in the manner hereinafter described. It will be observed that the arm 6 extends away from the flare of the bevels, that is to say from the side of the plate where the corners formed by the draft are acute, as shown in Fig. 7.

The lines of the under sides of the 'aws 4 and 5 are designed so as to bear full-upon the sloping top surfaces of the rail base flanges when the anchor is applied, at which timethe stiff arm 6 also bears upon the top' of one of the flanges so as to tilt the yoke away from thearm in the manner seen in Figs. 4 and 5. For purposes of manufacture it is desirable to bend the arm 6 at less than a right angle to the jaw 4, with the result that it lies diagonally, extending somewhat up the slope of the rail, but this .is not essential. A wide recess under the jaw 4 permits the yoke to be hooked laterally onto the railebase, in preliminary app1ication,'in a. manner which has long been. familiar in anticreepers.

'It will be noted that the relation of the arm 6 to the bevel 7 is such that the tilting of the yoke caused by the arm further tilts the bevel 7 of the under-rail portion so as to present the acute edge "COII16I 8 more sharply to the bottom face of the rail, while 5 are tilted over so that they lie substantially fiat upon the top of the rail flanges (see Fig. 5). I

The parts are so proportioned that when the anchor is put on in preliminary osi-' tion, the long jaw 4 and its arm are well up on one rail flange, while the short jaw 5, which is at the driving endv of the yoke, is not engaged over the other flange, its under surface then being somewhat below the line of slope of this rail flange, as will be seen in Fig. 1. The rounded or beveled lower forward corner 9 of this jaw presented to the somewhat rounded upper edge corner of the rail flange permits the short jaw to mount up on the rail flange when this end of the anchor is struck with force.

The longitudinal line of the top of the under-rail portion in the half, more or less,

of the under-rail part slopes downward for clearance. to the bottom of the recess under the'jaw 4, this slope bein marked 11.

The inclined under side of the jaw 5 at the driving end of the anchor and the top surface 10 of the under-rail part are so spaced and in such converging relation as to wedge over the edge of the rail flange, gripping the top and bottom thereof; and the construction is such, further, that the jaws are out of line, that is to say when the yoke is driven until the line 10 bottoms against the rail, the jaw 4 and its arm 6 would, if the metal were at rest, fall slightly below the top of the rail flange. .In other words, in the condition of Fig. 2 the yoke is strained. The measurable distortion is slight, and may be considered to be distributed in the left-hand half of the oke in this view, but owing to the nature 0 the material the stress is very great. Now, if the yoke is driven farther in a straight line, to the position of Fig. 3, for example, the jaw 4:, with its arm, rides down the slope of the rail flange, and the strain is in consequence largely relieved, there still remaining at the end, however, a heavy stress inthe metal which causes this jaw and arm to grip powerfully downward on the top of the flange. It will, therefore, be perceived that the anchor is driven through a condition of momentary excessive strain in one part of.

the anchor, namely the forward part of the anchor away from'the endwhich is driven, and that further driving relieves this excessive strain without impairing the holding, while at the same time increasing the wedging action at the driving end of the yoke. The combined effect is to produce a very tight, unrelaxing grip, not dependent on the use of spring steel, and .not affected by vibration or weather conditions, and also to make it impossible for the anchor when .properly applied to workcbackward and lose its grip, since the anchorv cannot move to the right in Fig. 3 without causing the jaw 4 and arm 6 to ride up a slope and restore the excess strain previously relieved. When' the anchoris fully driven and seated, the

end'of the tangent 10 remotejfromthedriving end of the yoke is past the center of the rail, in other words to the left of such center in Fig. 3.

Abrasion, particularly of the acute corner edge 8 of the tangent 10 contributesto the operation of the anchor. This edge ispartly swaged or flattened down in the driving," substantially as is represented in Figs. 3.

and 5, which not only permits driving after the arts have become initially wedged, but pro uces a considerable extent of intimate inding contact between the yokeand the bottom of the rail. As a further means to promote abrasion or swaging, the under side of the jaw 5 may be somewhat relieved, as at 12, behind its bearing nose, so that this nose may abrade as it is driven in'strong bearing contact with the top of the rail flange.

The arm 6 performs the function which has been referred to in connection with the bevels 7 It alsobraces the anchor against wabbling about an axis transverse to the rail. The anchor is preferably applied so that the arm extends forward in the direction of traffic, as shown, tilting the yoke at the top away from the tie, but the operation of the anchor doesnot require this position, and the anchor can also be put on in the-reverse manner.

The anchor can be taken off and re-apinvention has been described in detail, it

will be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise form.

I claim:

under-rail part to bear against the bottom of the rail and long and short end jaws to engage over the rail flan es, with a wide clearance recess beneath tie long jaw, the rail-anchor being designed to be applied by driving it transversely of the rail by force applied at the end ofthe yoke havmg the short jaw, the portion of said under-rail part which bears against the bottom of the rail being a straight tangent which extends from about the middle of the width of the rail toward the. driving end to bottom against the rail as the short jaw is forced up the slope of its rail flange, substantially as set forth. j x

2. A one-piece rail-anchor consisting of a punching from a plate of material such as .70-.80 carbon steel forming a stiff-girder yoke comprising an under-rail part to bear against the bottom of the rail and long and short end jaws to engage over the rail flanges, with a wide clearance recess beneath the long jaw, the rail-anchor being designed to .be applied by driving it transversely of the rail y force applied at the end of the yoke having the short jaw, the portion of said underrail part wh1ch bears against the bottom of the rail being a tangent which extends from about the middle of the width of the rail toward. the drivingend to bottom against the rail as the short jaw is forced up the slope of its rail flange, substantially as set forth. v

' 3. A transverselyrdriven' one-piece" railanchor comprising an under-rail part and integral end jaws adapted to'engage" over the rail base flanges, the to of the underrail part being formed wit a tangent extending toward the jaw at the driving end of the yoke, said tangentand jaw adapted 1. A onepiece rail-anchor comprising an i to wedge onthe rail base, the relations being such thatthe part of the anchor comprising 7 the other jaw is strained when said. tangent bottoms against the rail, after which further driving of thea-nchorswages one part of the anchor on. the rail flange and relieves ex.- cess strain inthe other part of the anchor.

1-. A i transversely-driven one-piece stifigirder rail-anchormade of a Vertical plate having an under-rail portion and long and; short jaws at the opposite ends to engage over the rail .fiang'es, the plate having a wide clearance recess under the long jaw, the upper edge of the under-rail portlon in the half adjacent the short jaw being a tangent and in the other halfdropping downward to said recess, the short jaw and the tangent being adapted to wedgefon the railflangaland the long jawihavin a stiif arm bent'there;

from in the genera direction of the length of the other rail flange, substantially as set forth. I j

5. A transversely-driven one-piece railanchor made of a punching from a plate of material such as .70-.80carbonsteel to form an under-rail portion and'integral long and short end jaws, the upper edge. of the underrail portion and the underedgesr of the 'aws having a draft angle, and an arm bent rom the long jaw in the general direction of the I lengthiof the r'ailflan'ge, substantially as set forth.

6. A one-piece rail anchor comprising a yoke designedto be driven transversely of the rail, said yoke comp ising an underrail portion provided wit a tangent abrading're'dge, a short jaw at the driving end adapted to mount up on one rail flange causing the tangent abrading edge to bottom against the rail, and a long jaw at the opposite end, the part of the yoke bearing the long jaw being adapted to be strained at such time and to have its external strain relieved by further driving on the. rail.

7. A one-piece rail-anchor comprising a yoke of material such as .7 O.80 carbon steel adapted to be driven transversely of the rail and comprising a short jaw and an underrail tangent together .forming wedging means in the driving half of the yoke adapted to embrace one rail flan ewith a wedging grip, theother half of the yoke being recessed so'afs to be free of the rail and having long v means adapted to be strained'by be strained by hearing ontop of the other flange as the yoke is driven and to have its external strain relieved as the drivin of the yoke is forced to its final we ging end grip.

JAMES R; STEELE. 

